


Batting Cages

by harimaron



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Baseball, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Not Beta Read, shoctober, shomatober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-28 20:35:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20972663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harimaron/pseuds/harimaron
Summary: Shoma looked so cute in his baseball uniform at Friends on Ice that Yuzuru decides to take him to the batting cages to teach him how to swing a bat. Shoma thinks he's cute for trying.This was written for #shomatober on Twitter. Day 9: SPORTS.





	Batting Cages

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for #shomatober on Twitter. Day 9: SPORTS. You can find me at @harimar0n on Twitter.
> 
> Warning: This was not beta'd or proofread, really, since I just wanted to get it out today, so sorry for inconsistencies and imperfections and whatnot.

It was just after Nationals when Yuzuru made a proposition for them to _go out_.

Of course, Shoma looked decidedly skeptical. Keiji had warned Yuzu about this many times—Shoma didn't like going out much, especially not in foreign cities. He much preferred to stay in, where he could be warm and comfortable. Yuzuru was often times the same way—except maybe not to quite the same extent. Luckily, over the years, Yuzuru had become quite fluent in speaking _Shoma_, or so he liked to think, so somehow Shoma had agreed to go out in the end.

“Batting cages?” Shoma voiced out as Yuzuru casually tugged him along by the hand inside the facility, as though that was the most normal thing for the two of them to be doing in public. Shoma's brown eyes had trained on their joined hands for a large portion of the trip, half in suspicion and half in wonder, but he never quite tried to pull himself free. The warmth of Yuzuru's palm against his was very much welcome in the cold of late December.

“I really wanted to go for a long time now,” Yuzuru replied, turning his dark eyes to lock with Shoma's. “Then I saw a video of you from _Friends on Ice_ in the baseball uniform—_Kana sent it to me_—and I thought it'd be a great idea for us to go together.”

“That explains your baseball cap.”

Yuzu pursed his full pink lips into a pout. “It's part of the disguise.” He took the cap off his own head and plopped it onto Shoma's, using both hands to pat it down affectionately over Shoma's fluffy hair in a way that was sure to annoy the petit skater. Surely enough, it drew a soft whine of protest from Shoma's throat and his hands came up to bat both of Yuzu's away while keeping the baseball cap on his own head.

“Do you really need the disguise when Yuzu-kun is the only dummy here the day before Christmas?” Shoma's insults held no bite but were rather affectionate themselves. They only drew a grin out of his senpai.

“_You're_ here with me, Sho,” he said cheekily.

Yuzuru put the rental helmet that they'd gotten over his own head. They'd both decided that since Yuzu had been dying to do this, he should be the first to go.

“You can watch me and learn for when it's you turn,” he said, eyes focusing in on the machine that would release the balls his way. His hands gripped the bat tightly. He adjusted the position of his feet, bent his knees, relaxed his shoulders.

Shoma watched him through the fence, his fingers loosely gripping the metal. He'd known that Yuzu was a fan of baseball. Yuzu never made a secret of it, had mentioned it in multiple interviews throughout the years, had mentioned it to his _friends_ from Team Japan—and possibly also his friends from Toronto.

_PAH!_

The first ball was shot and Yuzuru tracked it with his eyes, letting it go all the way through without trying to hit it with the bat. After that, he was swinging, one after another, hitting the balls with varying strength and occasionally at varying angles, Shoma noted as some of the balls ended up hitting the side nets rather than the back. Sometimes he even ended up missing with his hits. At least he seemed to be having a really good time.

Then it was Shoma's turn.

“Do I have to? Can't I just watch you?” Shoma tried asking as Yuzu walked him inside by the shoulders, not giving him much of a say in the matter—he was going to play.

“It'll be fun. I'll teach you.” Yuzu put Shoma's helmet over his head and fastened it for him with a lot of care. He did most things with a lot of care, it seemed. Shoma habitually worried his chapped bottom lip with his teeth as Yuzu placed his hands on either side of his waist to turn him around into position.

_There was a lot of touching_, and maybe Shoma was being a little selfish and letting Yuzu do this because he was _enjoying _it. He didn't find it in himself to stop Yuzu and tell him this was all unnecessary.

“Keep your feet apart, a little more than shoulder width—like that, good. Bend your knees, like in skating. You're good at that, yes, perfect. Just don't tense up. You're too tense. Relax.”

“I'm tense because you're breathing on my neck,” Shoma pointed out, effectively causing Yuzu to blush and sheepishly move to create a little more space between them with a quietly muttered apology.

“Okay, so you want to step with your front foot when the ball gets pitched. Get the foot down and then prepare to hit. Hold the bat over your back shoulder like...”

“Like this?” Shoma asked, doing it similarly to the way Yuzu had done it before.

“Yes, like that. And when you hit it, you want to aim for the back net, not the side nets. The side nets mean it's out, but it's okay if that happens. This is just for fun.” Then Yuzu's hands rested on his shoulders once more, giving them a little squeeze. Shoma turned his head a little to glance his way and saw Yuzu give him a little nod before asking, “Ready?” His enthusiasm for this was truly endearing, that much Shoma could say.

“Yeah, I'm ready,” he said, resuming his position once Yuzu had let go of him and stepped away to a safe spot.

When the first ball was released, with very much the same path and velocity as when Yuzu had gone, Shoma hit it straight on, sending it smacking right into the back netting.

“Like this?” he asked, tone **innocent** and not like he'd just made Yuzu go through the trouble of explaining everything to him and _touching him_ to fix his positioning, just to reveal that this probably wasn't his first time at the batting cages.

“Uh, yeah. Like that,” Yuzu said, surprise clear in his voice as Shoma got ready for the next pitch. He hit it with the same ease, the same fluency—like a _pro_, as Yuzu would later remark. One after another, he hit the balls as they came, like it was nothing, only occasionally letting some go past him.

When he was done, taking his helmet off, he made eye contact with Yuzu again, who just stared at him with his lips parted the entire time.

“That wasn't too hard,” the small skater remarked casually, smartly, as he walked out of the cage.

“Okay, I can accept that you kick my ass at video games, but I thought I'd definitely beat you at sports. Since when are you better at this than me?” Yuzu was undoubtedly _sulking_ now and Shoma almost felt bad. Almost.

“Since I have a little brother. We're always competing with one another at everything. Itsuki usually kicks my ass at this,” Shoma admitted with a slight tilt of his head and a little fond smile on his lips for just a moment before he caught himself. “But don't you dare tell him I said that.” He pushed his helmet into Yuzu's hands, against his chest.

Yuzu actually _laughed _and Shoma turned a confused gaze onto him, a silent question hanging in the air between them.

“Here I thought you just looked really cute in the uniform on the show, but of course you would play like a pro too. I should have known. You're always an unexpected threat, Shoma.” Yuzu's hand came down on top of his head, ruffling his already messy, post-helmet hair. Shoma could only feel his cheeks flush, unable to feign annoyance after getting called _cute_ by his senpai. “It's not fair. I always wanted to play baseball as a kid but I was never good enough. Even when I was being rebellious and wanted to quit skating to play a more 'manly' sport, my parents didn't even try to stop me, probably because they knew I'd get too frustrated with not being perfect at it and return to skating.” He laughed at his own misfortune _(or fortune? All things considered...)_ and set the helmet down so that he had use of both his hands.

Yuzu put some care into flattening down the smaller skater's hair a little bit from the mess he'd previously made from it and then rested his fingers on Shoma's cheek as they were coming down the side of his face. Shoma nibbled on his bottom lip, unable to keep from smiling up at him, his cheeks feeling warm and his heart suddenly feeling as though it might beat out of his chest. This was hardly the first time Yuzu had had this kind of effect on him and he knew that it would not be the last—at least, he most certainly _hoped_ that it would not be the last.

“You never cease to amaze me,” Yuzuru spoke softly, causing his breath to catch and leaving him incapable of verbally replying. He didn't have to, since Yuzu continued to speak. “I wish more people could see just how amazing you are. As an athlete, as a person.” The hand that had touched his cheek lowered to his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “But I'm content just being able to see this side of you for myself, even if others remain blind to it.” His expression then transformed into a frown, and for a moment Shoma actually _worried_, until Yuzu said, “But did you have to be amazing at _baseball_? That's supposed to be my thing. **Ugh**.”

Shoma _laughed_. “I thought your thing was skating! Are you actually being sulky over this?”

“Skating is _both_ of our thing,” Yuzu said with the same frown still on his face. “This was supposed to be mine... and you acted like it was your first time, too! Why did you let me look silly in front of you?” He covered his face with his hands, a bit dramatic.

“Because I enjoyed it. You looked really happy,” Shoma admitted, his voice soft in volume but his words reaching Yuzuru _loudly_. Yuzu peeked at Shoma through his parted fingers as he continued speaking. “I guess, whenever I see you, it's at competition, and you're always serious and focused. It was nice to see you just relaxed and happy for a change. You were happy spending time with _me_, and not with someone else, so I didn't want to ruin it...”

Yuzuru lunged at him and Shoma didn't get much chance to react before he had an armful of Yuzu hugging him and he could only sort of awkwardly hug him back in that way that he always did with unexpected embraces.

“I'm always happy to spend time with you, Sho. Even when you kick my ass,” Yuzuru admitted with a warm laugh bubbling out of him, his body vibrating a little against Shoma from the laughter. He then pulled back just as suddenly as he'd embraced him and looked him dead in the eyes, expression serious now. “Rematch.” And he was grabbing the helmet again. Shoma was rolling his eyes in affection. Of course Yuzu would be competitive even at something he didn't excel at and had little chance of winning at.

“It's not a competition—but sure. Go for it. Try to beat my high score,” Shoma taunted, much like he did whenever they played video games and they both knew that Yuzu didn't stand a _chance_.

But maybe Yuzuru preferred it that way.


End file.
